#60 Mary Gray - Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Sew Along - Sunflower Stitcheries and Quilting

Block #60 Mary Gray

So I have been sewing right along and found that though I have made block 60 Mary Gray as in the book, Marti Michell has offered an alternate block. So my tutorial is for the original in the book and not the alternate design.

I’m using a range of fabrics call Blessings by Moda which I think is a lovely choice for these blocks considering the stories and letters in the book.

I have been trying out the templates all the way through this project and have loved using them, they make the block construction so much faster, and very accurate. Granted this block did not use the templates so much as Marti explains here, but I did use them for the 2 different sized triangles and then built on the block by adding strips the width of the templates given in the book and then sewing the five sections together. Then I used the original large triangle as a guide to cut the sides of the blocks square and this made the corners in the centre of the strip. So it is possible to make Mary Gray if you want to.

Block 60 Mary Gray using Marti Michell templates

Whew, did that make sense? Lets see my pictures. I used the template B12 for the larger triangle and N81 for the small triangle. I built the block by adding strips to the triangle side, I measured the pieces in the book to get the width. Make sure they are long enough to be trimmed back later on an angle for the sides of the block.Here are the large triangles with the first strip sewn on, I then just added the next 2 strips to each section.

The 5 sections, four triangle sections and the centre piece with the smaller template cut triangle. This was a little trickier to get the placement for the triangle so my pieces were in alignment but once I had the placement it was all good.

And here is the completed block trimmed. You can see small gaps in my corners but these won’t be seen once it is put together.

Block 60 Mary Gray by paper piecing

Block 60 Mary Gray by Paper Piecing

I also make the block in paper piecing as well and this method was much the same but I had the paper pattern to follow. All good. I admit I started with the triangle and added the strips from that rather than the order of the numbers on the paper. It ends up the same, so the quilt police will never know!

Again I started with the larger triangle and added strips to that then changed direction for the other half of the section, ending with another large triangle.

The 3 sections ready to join, now is a good time to remove the paper from each section.

I did find I needed to pin the centre so I have the small triangles evenly placed. It’s not perfect but I’m happy with it. I like the subtlety of this block with the brown as well as the brighter combination with the cream.